


When Chaos meets Order

by GrimReaper7557



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dark Past, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Past Abuse, Rare Pairings, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:02:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28465002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimReaper7557/pseuds/GrimReaper7557
Summary: Garrus never thought he'd see the day when Jack of all people was asking him for help. Or that she looked beautiful when she laughed.Jack never thought she'd trust a turian, until Garrus gave her a reason.
Relationships: Jack | Subject Zero/Garrus Vakarian
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	1. The Lesson

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Just Give Me A Reason](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24181999) by [agaycabbage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/agaycabbage/pseuds/agaycabbage). 



> So now that I'm pretty sure I both confused and angered at least two fandoms with this one...Welcome! 
> 
> This was born out of the relationship that Jack shares with Garrus in the fantastic Rewrite the Stars series by agaycabbage. If you're a Shepard/Garrus fan I highly recommend it. 
> 
> On to the story, I hope you all enjoy.

Jack stared at the doors of the Main Battery, wishing she could force her body to make the decision to move. Part of her mind screamed in hatred, the thought of the turian on the other side only bringing up raw and shattered memories of her time on Purgatory. The other part was ashamed, a hot and tingling thing that skittered at the back of her head, spreading through her thoughts.

_‘I am fucking stronger than this. Shepard asked you to do this, so get it done.’_

Her hand came up to punch the holo-lock.

The doors swished open with the usual pneumatic hiss, and Jack stepped forward into the dimly lit quarters of the battery. Standing at his usual spot was Shepard’s turian, the very one that had been with the Commander during the assault on Purgatory. Jack remembered the flicking mandibles and sharp-eyed demeanor, something that had warned her this one was different from the rest of the turians she’d encountered.

She remembered eying the massive sniper rifle carried comfortably in his large hands, the blue damaged armor, and the bandages on his face. She’d wondered what the hell had managed to accomplish that without actually killing him, but then decided to worry about her escape from Purgatory rather than Shepard and her bodyguard.

Coming to terms with the fact that she was on a Cerberus vessel hadn’t been easy. Jacob was too willing to make nice and play the role of boy scout while Miranda was a snobby bitch that she wished Shepard would just throw out the airlock or leave planet-side one day. The fucking cheerleader for Cerberus. The rest of the crew had mostly kept to themselves, and the other aliens onboard did their best to at least be cordial with her. Zaeed, the old merc, had tried to get handsy with her once or twice before she firmly let him know she wasn’t to be fucked with.

Continuing her forward motion she heard her boots ‘clomp’ on the deck flooring, the turian, _‘Garrus’_ she remembered, either not caring she was there or oblivious to her presence.

_‘Well, this is fucking awkward, I know he fucking heard me. Probably smelled me coming since before the damn door. Who doesn’t fucking turn around?!”_

“Hey…are you deaf or something?”

_‘Nice job Jack, antagonize the seven-foot murder machine who could fucking snap you in half if he got his hands on you. Or maybe you’d fucking like that.’_

The thought paused her in her tracks. Her time on Purgatory coming to the forefront, the bodies and carnage she’d caused before she’d been put into cryostasis, rising from the box she’d carefully buried them in. 

Coming back to herself she realized that she’d been staring at the opposite corner of the room while Garrus had been staring intently at her, confusion in his stance and expression.

_‘Great first impression Jack.’_

oOo

“What the fuck are you looking at bird?”

Garrus pulled back in surprise, not expecting the outburst when the glazed look left the former prisoner’s eyes. He had taken the opportunity to actually look over her, the last few weeks he could count on one hand the times he’d actually seen her around the ship. The multitude of tattoos were interesting though he could tell there were plenty of scars and battle wounds buried under them. Not to mention whatever burden it was that she carried inside herself.

“You clearly came in here for a reason. I just wanted to know what that might be.”

He decided to try and remain civil and ignore the bird comment. He’d seen what Jack was capable of on Purgatory and he didn’t relish the idea of her trashing his Thanix Cannon if he provoked her. If he didn’t know better, the woman in front of him looked almost sheepish at his question, shuffling her feet before directing a glare at him.

“Shepard told me that I should get training in using an assault rifle. Said she prefers a shotgun like me, but you taught her to use one much better than the Alliance ever did. Not sure why, between my biotics and a shotgun I’ve never had an issue.”

Garrus did his best to keep from smirking, but his sub-vocals rang with amusement. Shepard had clearly taken the lessons he’d given her to heart and realized having something with a bit more rapid firepower and range was an asset on the battlefield, even if she and Jack shared the same confidence in their biotics.

“Shepard wouldn’t have asked you to do something without good reason. We can find a rifle that fits you and go from there. Biotics are all well and good until you’re exhausted, and your shotgun doesn’t hold enough ammo to put down suppressive fire if we need it.”

Garrus flicked a mandible at the sneer Jack gave him, but he caught the slight nod and acceptance in her posture. She might hate it, but she was far from stupid.

“So, when do we do this? I don’t want to make a fucking spectacle out of it and have the whole crew watching. Specially not that cheerleader, I’m sure she’d get a kick out of it.”

Jack had cocked out one hip with her arms crossed in a sort of defiant posture. He found her intriguing, most of the crew wasn’t that comfortable around him aside from Shepard and Grunt. She clearly was out of her element, but it wasn’t because of him. He guessed it was either the idea of asking for help or being told to ask for it.

“We can go whenever. I don’t have the same schedule as you humans do. Long as we’re not disturbing anyone in the hangar, we’ll be fine.

Jack looked off to the side, seemingly deciding whether or not she wanted to follow through with the suggestion. Her eyes narrowed as she looked back to him, clearly having made a decision. 

“Fine, zero-three-hundred ship time, most everyone should be asleep or on other duties then. I’ll meet you in the hangar bay. You and Shepard had better not be wasting my fucking time.”

With that Garrus watched her stomp out of the Main Battery and brusquely tell someone to “piss off” just past his door. He listened to her footsteps grow fainter, but the scent of her lingered. Breathing a deep sigh he realized it reminded him of Palaven, ozone and hot metal combined with the smells of the engineering bay where she made her quarters. He shook his head before returning to his calibrations.

_‘Tonight should provide entertainment at the very least. Here’s to hoping she doesn’t rip my mandibles off.’_

oOo

Jack was pacing in the hangar bay wondering why she had ever agreed to this.

 _'_ _Damnit Shepard! I don’t need damned training. And I especially don’t need training from a fucking turian!”_

She knew that Shepard had a point when they’d talked. She had no real training in firearms, shotguns had just come naturally and there were few people who couldn’t reliably shoot a pistol. She’d relied on her biotics for nearly any conflict that firearms were a secondary concern for her. Shepard had nodded knowingly at the argument and then told her to talk to Garrus anyways. There was apparently no changing her mind, and Jack couldn’t argue with the idea that being able to use an assault rifle in a pinch would be helpful.

It was more the issue that she’d had to ask someone to help her out. Shepard wouldn’t take no for an answer to having Garrus teach her, something about mandatory military service and his skills with a rifle.

“Aaaaghhhh…fuck!” Jack ran her hands over her head in frustration, the stubble of her hair reminding her she’d have to shave it soon. Her instincts were tearing her in two directions, stay or leave, and she wasn’t sure which to follow.

Jack heard the elevator ding and she spun on her heel in time to see Garrus step out. He wasn’t in his usual blue and black armor, but a pair of dark loose pants with holes for his spurs and what she’d describe as a large dark blue tunic that mostly hung off his carapace and shoulders. She’d thought he was big in his armor, but it turned out his larger than average height carried over to the rest of him. The sex obsessed side of her brain noticed that for a turian he was heavily muscled, something she could definitely appreciate. Well-defined muscles shifted under the plates on his arms and shoulders as he moved with a predator’s grace. The other part of her, that had ripped apart her attackers on Purgatory, didn’t care and only saw another threat that she needed to destroy.

Shaking her head, she locked it all away and stepped over to the work benches where Garrus was working on setting up a few rifles they’d had in inventory. She watched him glance at her as she moved over to join him, but he simply continued with his work.

“Quite the selection, gonna be here all fucking night if you’re planning on going through all of these.”

Garrus turned to look down at her, the foot and a half he had on her now even more apparent that she stood next to him. Piercing blue eyes bore into hers, a shiver running down her spine at the singular focus they held before they turned back to the rifles on the table. She caught the flick of a mandible and a shift of his plates above his eyes but wasn’t sure that to make of it.

“Just giving you options. We don’t have to shoot all of these tonight but wanted to get you familiar with them.”

The click of talons on metal and composites brought her gaze down to his hands where she noticed for the first time, that he wasn’t wearing gloves, the long digits on his hands tipped by what looked like razor sharp talons. She watched with fascination as they retracted and looked something like pointy fingernails on a human.

“Holy shit, I didn’t know you guys could do that!”

Garrus turned to look at her again, a mandible flicking and what she would definitely call an amused expression on his face. “We did manage to become a spacefaring race Jack, it would be kinda hard to do if our talons got in the way of our work.”

Jack just glared up at the bemused turian, doing her best to ignore the smooth double voice that seemed to caress her ears.

_‘Fucking hell I need a goddamn drink after this.’_

“Alright, well fuck right off and get into what you’ve all fucking laid out here. I don’t want to be here all fucking night, with my luck Shepard will have a mission for us stupidly early.”

Garrus nodded before he turned to her, “Let’s get started, shall we?”

oOo

Jack was certainly living up to the profile that Shepard had shared with him, foul language notwithstanding, she was a supernova waiting to happen in his opinion. He saw the makings of a person trapped behind the paranoia and anti-social personality she affected. Though he figured her hatred of Cerberus and Miranda was well deserved.

“Okay, since you’ve got the basics with firearms, we’ll speed this along a bit. The Normandy actually has a good selection of equipment. The standard is the M-8 Avenger, good rate of fire, accurate and dependable.” He motioned to the next rifle on the table, “This one is the M-15 Vindicator it’s a five-round burst rifle, very accurate and good damage.”

He watched Jack nod with a certain focus that was typically absent in her usual attitude on the ship. He couldn’t help but flick a mandible in a small smile, either she was interested in weapons or she knew how to take something seriously, either way it made his job easier.

He palmed the next rifle, “This is the M-96 Mattock, a powerful semi-auto rifle, more of a designated marksman rifle than a true assault rifle.” He caught the obvious disinterest Jack had in something that require precision and quickly moved on. “Wrex sent a couple of these along after our trip to Tuchanka, Striker Assault rifles. They fire high-impact, large caliber slugs that explode on impact.”

Garrus couldn’t help the chuckle when Jack’s eyes lit up at the mention of more carnage. “Okay so apparently, you’re part Krogan. I should’ve known.” He ignored the glare Jack sent his way, “This last one is the M-37 Falcon, I’m pretty sure Shepard had to murder someone to get her hands on this. They’re not exactly standard issue. It fires 25mm grenades that detonate on contact. Not as powerful as the Striker, but definitely more controllable.”

Jack gave him a grin that surprised him in how friendly it made her look, though the tattoos and way she carried herself still screamed danger. “Sounds like you know your shit Garrus. And as much as I like the idea of some high-powered, explosive launching rifle, I’m pretty sure Shepard wanted me to have something a little more practical.”

He nodded in amusement, “Probably true, so we’ll take a look at the Avenger first, I think it’ll fit the bill for Shepard wants you to have.”

He picked up the rifle and a few thermal clips and motioned over to the firing range area that would allow them to shoot inside the ship. It used holographic targets and mass effect fields to contain the small-arms fire, though any explosive weapons needed to use specialized training rounds.

Garrus punched up several targets at varying ranges so he could show Jack how to work the optics on the rifle as well as demonstrate recoil. He demonstrated the usual safeties, thermal ports and electronic optics before setting the rifle on the table and stepping back.

“Alright, I’m going to put faith in your abilities to not kill yourself or I with this. Step up and I’ll help set your stance and how to hold it. It’s a little different than using a shotgun, but similar to proper pistol shooting.”

Jack cracked her knuckles in a disturbing display of too many fingers and stepped up to the firing line. He watched as she hefted the rifle, checking its weight before bringing it to her shoulder.

 _'Good_ , _so she has the basics at least.’_

“Okay,” He stepped up behind her feeling her tense as she did so, “Bring the stock into your shoulder, now lean forward a bit and drop your knees like you’re about to hit someone.”

He felt her chuckle at, but she did as he said, clearly a natural stance for her. He reached over her to adjust the stock so that it fit her better and she grunted in understanding. Garrus checked her form over and he couldn’t help but notice Jack’s particular scent again when he was this close to her. It made him want to see what she smelled like after a sparring session, or after a good firefight against their enemies. Or maybe just after she finished a screaming match with Miranda.

He shook his head quickly, mandibles tight against his face, _‘What the fuck is wrong with you Garrus?’_

The thoughts had come unbidden as he moved closer to her. Refocusing his mind on the task at hand he guided Jack through the usual manual of arms; thermal clip ejection, safeties, adjusting optics and so on. In a way he understood Jack, the hatred, fear and anger she carried, it was familiar to him after his time on Omega and the way the Alliance and Council treated Shepard’s memory.

“Okay, so the ballistic computer will adjust automatically for range, your job will be to focus on the recoil and ensuring follow-up shots are where you want them. The Avenger doesn’t kick too much, but on full auto it’ll start to climb. Trick is to shoot in short bursts if you’re using it, keeps recoil down and manages your ammunition more effectively.”

“Got it, so put the dot on the target and pull the trigger then but don’t spray and pray.”

Garrus paused at the unfamiliar phrase, “Sure if that’s what you got from it.”

She turned back to look at him a small grin on her lips, “Oh relax. I get it, maintain control and don’t dump your whole load at once.”

This time the grin was much more salacious and Garrus wasn’t sure he wanted to interpret her meaning aside from her understanding of his instructions. He also wasn’t sure how much he’d really want to read into her commentary anyways.

He cleared his throat and nodded for her to focus on the targets, “Okay so start with the close one, give it a few bursts. See how it recoils and focus on keeping it on target.”

Jack gave a firm nod and settled into her stance, eye to the optic and finger on the trigger. The first burst was on target but quickly went high by the fourth shot, the last few going off target.

“Fuck! I thought you said there wasn’t much recoil to these?”

Garrus simply raised a brow-plate, “There isn’t if you’re doing it correctly. Hence the training.”

The glare sent his way would probably kill a Reaper if it could be weaponized. “Yea yea, fuck you. What’s the trick to managing it? I got use to dealing with shotgun recoil so how do I manage this.”

Garrus smirked at her giving a low laugh in response. “Okay settle into your stance, pull the butt of the stock against your shoulder tight. Lean into it, yea just like that.” Garrus watched her shift her stance then nudged her feet with his to spread them out a bit. “Okay, little more bend in the knees. Now shift your support hand up more.”

This time he went to adjust her hand with his and got an unexpected reaction.

“What are you fucking doing?”

The vitriol in her voice startled him. He thought they’d been getting along well before now, at the very least she had been teasing before. He pulled back at the tone, the anger in her voice nearly palpable on his tongue. His visor showed that her vitals had spiked, heart rate and breathing had escalated quickly, and her temp had gone up a few degrees, the beginnings of a biotic corona flitting over her form.

“I was just going to adjust your hand. I apparently should have asked first.” He kept his tone light and affable, trying to inject a little calm into the situation.

He could probably bite the tension in the air if it were any thicker and he noticed Jack shaking slightly.

“Jack?”

oOo

She knew she’d overreacted. It was obvious that he’d go to adjust something and need to touch her. Hell, he’d bumped her feet out seconds before. But Purgatory held her in its thrall and that fucking prison just wouldn’t let go.

Garrus’ voice calling her name broke through her thoughts, a comforting rumble that drove back the claws in her mind. She knew he meant well, knew that he’d die for Shepard, and kill anyone who meant harm to the crew. That at least was a comfort. She hadn’t noticed how warm he’d been until he stepped back in response to her anger, and only now realized how soothing his presence had been.

She sighed heavily, shoving the thoughts from her head. “Sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

The unasked question hovered in the air between them and Jack wasn’t sure how to answer so she moved on to her number one coping method. She deflected.

“Just let me know next time, not big on touch. But let’s get this done with, we’re burning time.”

She felt Garrus step near again, his warmth and particular metallic scent washing over her again, a steady presence against the rage and anger she felt.

_‘Fuck I need to get laid if a turian is starting to smell good.’_

His large hand came into view from behind her, and she forced herself to relax, pushing down the natural instincts she had to retaliate or lash out. He paused, waiting for her acknowledgement which she gave in a quick nod. His voice followed shortly; this time closer to her as he was forced to lean down into her personal space to shift her stance as required.

“Okay, move your hand as far forward as you can and use it to pull the weapon into your shoulder while also pulling it down while you lean into the recoil. Point your thumb forward along the side of the rifle, it’ll help you keep it pointed where you want it.”

Jack paid close attention to how he directed her. She knew the information had the potential to save her life one day. What distracted her however was the feel of his hands. They were softer than she would have expected. Whether that was something he did or a product of him always wearing gloves she wasn’t sure. The hand was warm on her skin, the texture not unpleasant, though it still went against her every instinct to not pull away.

Then he pulled his hand away, and she caught herself in a paradox, missing the touch but hating it all the same.

_‘God damnit Jack, concentrate will you!’_

“Okay, try again.” The low rumble from Garrus helped her focus on the task at hand.

Sighting down the optic she placed the targeting reticle on the target and squeezed the trigger. This time the rounds impacted the center of the target, the last few only skewing upwards slightly. The recoil pushed the gun back into her shoulder unlike the last time when it rode up and out of her stance.

“Very good, not a bad start, seems like this comes easy to you.”

“Yea well, least all my past bullshit means I’m good at something.” She couldn’t help the self-deprecating tone even if she’d tried. She knew how much of a screw up she was, her only use now was on a suicidal mission to prevent the end of mankind.

She heard Garrus sigh behind her before he took a breath to speak, the rumbling tones lower with a buzz behind them she didn’t understand.

“Jack…lets shift on to the further targets. You’ll need to maintain your form to keep everything on target.”

She didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed that he hadn’t followed up on her comment, but she was slightly more relaxed when he stepped forward once more to correct her form.

_‘Fucking hell I’m going soft.’_

oOo

The rest of the training session on the Avenger passed smoothly, or as smoothly as Garrus would have ever expected with someone such as Jack. She had picked up on the basics pretty quickly, and while she’d probably never use a rifle consistently, she now had the skills to do so reliably.

It was when he brought the Striker over that he saw a real smile on her face. The pure excitement on her face was worth any issues he may have had with her earlier.

“Let me modify the settings so you can fire the training rounds in here. Not quite like the real thing, but the recoil is the same.”

He caught the smirk Jack sent his way, “Well looks like I’ll have to take it for a real spin on the next mission. Hopefully, we’re up against some Cerberus assholes.”

Garrus had realized that Jack, when happy, was actually a halfway decent person. She’d still make most residents of Omega look like charming happy folk, but it was good to see something other than the permanent scowl she seemed to prefer.

“Alright, you’re all set. Hold on tight or it’ll take you for a ride.”

Though the waggle of her eyebrows was confusing, the next words out of her mouth were downright shocking to him.

“Getting taken for a ride isn’t so bad most of the time. Just depends on what you’re riding.”

Garrus was speechless, mandibles slack on his face while Jack just started laughing. He wasn’t sure if it was at her joke or at him, but it didn’t matter. The lack of stress and anger on her face was something he would willingly be embarrassed for anytime.

Jack reached up to smack his shoulder, after laughing long and hard, before turning back to the targets and lifting the Striker. She gave a quick smirk back at him, “So you gonna show me how to ride this puppy or what?”

_‘Spirits I’ve met more reserved strippers on Omega. She certainly is something else.’_

He shook his head before moving up to where Jack stood, weapon aimed downrange and adjusted her form once more to handle the increased recoil of a krogan designed weapon.

“Okay, hold it tight and really lean into it. I’d step your left foot forward a bit, get a stable base. When you’re ready line up the optic on the target, I’ll show you the drop rate based on the range. Careful on the trigger, full auto will rip this right out of your hands.”

He saw her nod before tightening up on the weapon and concentrating on the target. He stood close behind her, hands just above her shoulders in case she was thrown off balance.

There was a whump and Garrus watched the shot smack into the target with a bang as the micro-charge detonated at a fraction of its normal power to simulate a hit. He felt Jack hit his hands and tense immediately before relaxing and letting out a whoop.

“Oh, fuck yes! I’m definitely taking this on the next mission. That is too much fun to not use.”

Garrus laughed with Jack’s enthusiasm for destruction, “Well tell Shepard that’s your plan. I’d suggest changing it out for your usual shotgun and taking an Avenger with you as a primary. These aren’t exactly friendly in close quarters.”

Jack set the rifle down on the bench, ensuring the safety was on before turning back to him, a toothy smile on her face, eyes shining in the low light of the hangar bay.

“Well, I’ll be the first to admit it. This was fun, and a hell of a lot better than I thought it would be.”

He watched her look away, clearly embarrassed at her admission, and he flicked a mandible in amusement.

Returning her gaze to his he caught a second of vulnerability as she spoke, “Thank you Garrus. This meant a lot.”

_‘Spirits I want to fucking kill whoever broke her this badly that a simple range session is cause for thanks like that.’_

He nodded at her, a smile on his face at her thanks, “You’re welcome Jack. Happy to do this again if you find yourself interested.”

They looked at each other for a quiet moment before a sound behind them had both of them spinning towards the noise.

Garrus immediately stiffened upon seeing Shepard watching them with an amused smirk on her face, hip cocked against one of their storage crates, arms crossed over her chest.

“Well looks like you two had fun. You find a rifle you liked Jack?”

Garrus just knew Shepard had seen the last few minutes of Jack with the Striker, there was no reason she wouldn’t have joined them unless she had been wanting to watch.

“Fuck yea Shep! I gotta thank your krogan next time we’re on Tuchanka for the weapons, they’re fucking awesome.”

This time Shepard smiled and shook her head at Jack’s enthusiasm, red hair swishing around her head as she did so.

“How did the lesson go Blue?” Garrus snorted at Shepard’s use of her nickname for him.

“She’s got talent for destruction, and for weapons. Took to the Avenger pretty quick, though I think she’s taken a shine to things that explode now. I’d lock the Falcon up tonight Red.”

Jack looked between the both of them, “What is it with you two and the pet names. I mean fucking colors. Really?”

Shepard just laughed while Garrus snorted, “You’ll come around Jack. Anyways you two go hit the rack, we’ve got a mission in eighteen hours. Planning to bring the both of you along and you look like you’ve been here most of the night.”

“Will do Red. I’ll get everything put away Jack, go get some sleep. We can figure out what mods you want afterwards.”

The biotic just nodded, giving him a small smile and a thump on the shoulder before apparently realizing she was supposed to be scowling, and stomped to the elevator, tossing a middle finger over her shoulder to Shepard who was laughing at her antics.

Garrus watched as Jack leaned against the back wall of the lift, her eyes never leaving his until the doors closed, a quirk to her lips and a smile in her eyes.

“So…anything you need to tell me Blue?”

Garrus quickly turned to Shepard who had a smirk on her face and was leaned against the firing range station.

“She seemed particularly happy tonight. Happier than I’ve ever seen her…though that’s not exactly saying much considering her personality overall.”

Garrus paused, debating whether to ask his next question or not when he decided that if he was going to be working with Jack he should know.

“Red…What the hell happened to her. She almost had a meltdown when I went to touch her, then later she’s cracking jokes and making innuendo that would have Aria blushing.”

Garrus watched Shepard sigh and pull in on herself slightly. She was quiet for a moment, gathering her thoughts he imagined. He’d seen the initial dossier on Jack, knew she had a hard life and a bad past, but there was clearly something more to it.

“That’s her story to tell Garrus. Just know she’s hurting, and I can’t imagine Purgatory did any favors. A lot of the guards were turian and we saw what they’re capable of there. She didn’t cause that much damage to the station because she had a nice time.”

Garrus just stared at the woman who he’d known come up through some of the worst the galaxy had to offer and tell him that someone else had it bad. He’d seen Shepard at her worst, held her through some of the rough patches, let her cry on his shoulder when the burden was too much. For her to tell him someone had it bad meant a lot.

“She has us now Garrus, and the ones responsible on Purgatory are dead. I plan to find the assholes from Cerberus who hurt her before this and help her bury her past. You with me?”

Garrus could feel the Archangel persona crawl up from the back of his mind, the idea of retribution and vengeance pulling it from the dormant state he’d put it in after Red had found him.

“You know I’m with you Red. That never needs to be asked.”

Shepard nodded, stood, and stepped close to him, hand on the center of his chest. “I know Garrus. Thank you.”

With that she stepped past him, headed for the elevator and Garrus was left alone to contemplate not only the last few minutes but the night overall.

_‘Spirits what a night.’_


	2. Crazy is as Crazy does

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew raids a Blue Suns outpost while Jack and Garrus try to figure each other out.

Garrus took another sip from his cup of kava while he looked over his M-92 Mantis rifle for any obvious issues. Happy that everything was in working order, he pulled an Avenger from storage along with a Striker and Jack’s M-23 Katana.

He shook his head at that, the Katana was a decent weapon, but someone like Jack could probably use a firepower increase. He’d have to talk to Shepard about it. Maybe Legion could help them get their hands on a few of the Geth weapons that caused them so much trouble.

Looking over the weapons he pulled a few ideal mods for Jack from their supplies, namely a choke and high caliber barrel for better accuracy and damage. The Striker he figured would benefit more from stability dampener and an extended barrel to further reduce the recoil. Her Carnifex he noticed was setup for maximum damage and he smiled at the idea that Jack was all about firepower. It was something he could relate to. The Avenger got the same setup as the Striker since recoil was probably something she’d still struggle with on the battlefield.

Thinking back to the previous night he would never have guessed that he and Jack would have any common ground to come together on. He’d been surprised and pleased that she wasn’t simply a vicious street thug with too much biotic ability, but rather someone who was savvy and knew how to adapt to her environment. She was a survivor, much like he and Shepard were.

The hustle and bustle around the hangar bay nearly drowned out the sounds of Jack’s combat boots as she approached him. He wasn’t surprised however by the greeting she gave him.

“Alright Scars, it’s still too fucking early for this bullshit so just tell me what you’re setting me up with. After last night I figure you probably know what’s best on all this crap. I just know how to point and shoot.”

Garrus couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face or the surprise at the level of trust Jack was giving him. To him weapons were extremely personal, not something that you simply let anyone modify or touch. Shepard trusted him with her life and her secrets and even still she always double-checked her weapons after he went over them.

“Going off of your Carnifex I figured you’re probably a fan of heavy firepower and not precision. So, I’ve setup your shotgun, Avenger and Striker in a similar fashion. Should have better recoil on the rifles as well as better penetration against armor.”

Jack only nodded while sipping a cup of coffee, “Alright well if you say it’s all good then it’s all good. Shep’s on her way down, she got caught up with the Cheerleader and why it’s not worth our time or proper to go take out a Blue Suns base.”

Garrus snorted at the one-handed air quotes Jack used when she’d said “proper” and nodded at the information.

“Knowing Red she either has a good reason, will find a good reason, or just wanted to get some exercise. I’m guessing Kasumi had a lead on equipment or credits down there. Credits or the promise of a good fight will always get Red out of bed and punching someone.”

He watched Jack pause and slowly turn to face him with a smirk on her face. “You an expert then on getting Shepard out of bed?”

Garrus sputtered around his kava mug, doing his best not to spit it all over the workbench at the clear insinuation. “No Jack! Red and I…no…never been a thing, never will be a thing.”

She just laughed at him, a happy sound that Garrus desperately wanted to hear more of in the future, instead of the morose and self-deprecating woman he’d seen last night.

“Alright, calm down ya dinosaur. But you two have the whole crew assuming the both of you have something going on. Like you’ve been married for the last couple of years type of going on. Between the flirting, touching and nicknames…fuck we should take you two to a bar and I can take bets on whether or not people think you’re fucking!”

Garrus just rubbed a hand over his fringe and neck at Jack’s exuberance and idea. “Shepard and I have just known each other a long time. We’re good friends and we’ve trusted each other with our lives since the hunt for Saren. Just fell into a routine I guess.”

“So…you two aren’t fucking then? Why not, she’s hot. Add to that I’ve heard all the women on the ship, and a few of the men to boot, talk about taking you for a spin. So, you’ve clearly got some appeal. I mean hell, watching you guys spar, anyone could assume you’re into each other.”

Garrus just stared slack jawed at Jack and her revelation that he and Shepard, along with his sex appeal, were of such interest on the ship.

It took several tries to get words to flow again, all the meanwhile Jack was snickering at his baffled expression.

“Red…well that’s her story to tell, I guess. But no, Red and I are complicated at best, but there’s nothing there. Certainly not what you all seem to think is going on. And I’m not going to comment on the rest of that.”

Jack actually managed to look disappointed, “Well fuck there goes twenty credits. Remind me to stop betting against Joker huh?”

Garrus laughed, hard, he knew Joker probably was leading the crew on in order to make his bets work. The incorrigible pilot never knew when to leave well enough alone and knew damn well that he and Shepard weren’t fucking.

“What was your bet exactly?” Garrus looked at Jack out of the corner of his eye while he tweaked the optics on the Avenger for her.

“The bet was whether you were sleeping together or just casually fucking. I figured you for one of those romantic types while a bunch of others figured you two were just blowing off steam. Joker and the Cheerleader said neither, but no one’s worked up the courage to actually get an answer from Shepard yet.”

Garrus paused in his work, “Who else said sleeping together?”

Jack gave him a curious look, eyes narrowed at the question, “Kasumi and Gabby. Apparently, we’re all fans of mushy romance. Why?”

He gave her a wide smile, “Just curious. I’ll let Shepard in on it, just be at the next meal after we get back. You, Kasumi and Gabby are in for a surprise.”

He caught Jack mumble something about being a sly bastard under her breath before turning back to his work.

_‘Even Joker is gonna be surprised. Can’t wait to see the look on his face when he loses that bet.’_

oOo

_‘Course he’s sly bastard, he’d have to be if he and Shep had something going on. And damn, he’s handsome when he smiles, even with that bandage on his face.’_

Jack froze for a moment.

_‘Oh, fuck right off hormones!’_

Jack found herself mildly shocked at how easy conversation with Garrus was. Even if last night had been an awkward disaster of cheesiness and bad pick-up lines, she wouldn’t take it back. The turian knew his shit and she appreciated that. Firearms had never really been her specialty. Shotguns worked for the majority of situations where her biotics weren’t enough, and a pistol handled the rest.

As much as she’d hated that Shepard had asked her to go get training, she couldn’t help but understand the reasoning. She wasn’t military like her, Garrus or Jacob and even the Cheerleader had more experience in working with a team than Jack did. Jack had lived through enough shit to realize when help was being offered. And when Commander Shepard suggested you do something, she figured there was a good reason behind it.

She had initially figured Garrus for another stick-in-the-mud turian, one who had a pole jammed so far up his ass it allowed Shepard to use him as a ventriloquist dummy. Then she had watched the two of them clearing through Purgatory with that wrecking ball of a krogan. They had been a seamless team, Garrus always covering Shepard while Shepard wove in and out of danger slinging shotgun rounds and biotics like they were going out of style. Grunt, as she learned later, was simply happy to kill anything he could get to.

Jack felt a pang of grief for the team members she’d lost and family she’d never known. She wanted that part of her life back. The ability to trust someone to be so in tune with you that you could rely on them to always have your six. Then she saw the Cerberus logo and she wasn’t sure who she could trust. But, in the end, Shepard had worked her magic, Jack saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and Shepard had kept her word. Now she was closer than ever to finding that hellhole of a facility she escaped from and nothing in the galaxy would stop her from destroying it.

Several weeks after joining the Normandy, she had begun to see Garrus, and most of Shepard’s crew, in a new light. Garrus had been cordial with her, even after she had snapped at him and the crew for the first week or so. The fact that he’d been willing to even help her after that spoke volumes and Jack couldn’t help but appreciate that. Of course, the fact that she had a thing for muscles and gorgeous voices didn’t help either.

_‘God you have it bad. He’s a fucking bird, you can’t be attracted to him!’_

Jack mentally punched the voice in her head and stuffed it back in the box. She wasn’t willing to think about Garrus in any light other than as a teammate while this mission was ongoing. Afterwards? She’d have a drink and sort it out. The fact that he was a turian be damned.

“So, you two do have something going on. I fucking knew it! Can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks, this’ll be good.”

His laugh sent a warmth through her, the dual tones and richness of it reaching into a place she’d long sealed off. She took a long pull of her coffee in an attempt to focus on something other than his voice.

“So, you have any idea what we’ll be up against. Been a while since I had dealings with any major merc organizations.”

Garrus nodded at the question, “They like mechs, which tend to explode after they get shot in the face. So, watch out for that. Other than that, expect a lot of firepower and not much in the way of biotics. Lot of batarians usually, a turian here and there depending on how badly they fucked up as well as humans. Same assholes that oversaw Purgatory.”

Jack felt herself freeze. She knew that. Knew the Blue Suns had been the ones to torture her, assault her and worse. The rage came, sweeping, heavy and hot. She’d be able to exact some peace of mind on more of the assholes.

Then she noticed Garrus watching her intently, no doubt because she’d been staring off into space at the memories.

“Jack…”

She cut him off, “Garrus I’ll be fine. We already killed everyone on Purgatory and that barefaced fuck of a turian Kuril is already dead. You and Shepard can count on me for this.”

She watched him give her a long look, clearly deciding on whether to say something when he just nodded. She watched as he raised his hand then dropped it, and she winced internally. She had caused that, had made him worry about even touching her.

She placed a hand on his arm, the smooth coolness of his armor settling her. “Thanks for…well whatever it was you were going to ask. Let’s go kick some ass and then have a couple of beers once this is all over huh?”

She smiled at the flicker of mandibles and rumble he let out before nodding at her.

“Okay you two, ready to go? Joker says we’re approaching our shuttle drop. Grab your shit and meet me at the Kodiak.”

Jack jumped, pulling back her hand from Garrus. “Fuck Shepard! Make some goddamn noise or something once in a while huh? Gonna give me a heart-attack one of these days.”

Shepard just stared at Jack for a moment, eyebrows raised, before shaking her head and moving over to her locker.

Jack glared up at Garrus, “Thanks for not telling me Shepard was right behind me.”

The turian snorted, “Not my problem you humans have zero sense of smell or hearing. It’s a wonder your species was the apex predator on your planet.”

_‘Oh, I see how it is.’_

“We’re built for _endurance_. Though clearly if you’d ever been with a human you would have known that already.”

With that last delivery Jack walked away from a very scandalized but puzzled turian with a large smile on her face.

oOo

The shuttle ride was quiet, though Garrus watched Jack feebly attempt to contain her nervous energy. Shepard had stepped up front to talk to Cortez about their approach vector in and that meant they had roughly ten more minutes before landfall. Jack was bouncing her leg in rapid fashion and she kept rolling her shoulders every so often.

“Jack. Relax. It’s a standard search and clear operation, nothing to be worried about. You’ve done this with us before.”

Jack merely gave him one of her trademark glares. “Not all of us can be the stoic stick-in-the-ass warriors that you turians are. Some of us just get antsy before a fight.”

Garrus just raised a brow ridge at her before leaning back against the wall letting his sub-vocals radiate his amusement.

“And now he’s purring…crying out loud you guys are fucking weird.”

“Says you. Shepard at least appreciates me.”

Jack just rolled her eyes at him before turning away. Shepard chose that moment to come back to the cabin and settle into her seat next to Garrus, raising an eyebrow at her two crewmates.

“You two are something else. Anyways, our landing area looks clear, but EDI reported communications between patrols so we may run into one of them sooner than later. Garrus you’ll be on point, if we come across a patrol, put them down quietly.”

“Got it Red.”

Garrus checked his rifle, ensuring a fresh thermal clip was loaded. The new Hahne-Kedar armor Shepard had procured for him shifted oddly. It was heavier than his last set, but the extra power cells made his weapons a bit more efficient. But in turn granted him a heavier hitting shot. Shepard had told him it was a prototype set from a subsidiary of the company, and the desert camouflage worked for their current environment. Unlike his old C-Sec armor it gave him a bit more movement which he was thankful for, though the trade-off was that it left a few areas more vulnerable.

Jack, he noticed was in her traditional harness, but had thrown on a black top under it. The thin leather straps left very little to the imagination. He imagined that her biotic barriers had kept her out of harm’s way more than enough times for her to not need anything more.

_‘Her outfit wouldn’t be that out of place on a turian female actually.’_

Garrus almost gagged at the thought, that was not something he’d have expected his brain come up with. Most certainly not when they were a minute from touchdown near a hostile mercenary base.

_‘Thank the Spirits I can go take whatever this is out on some mercenaries. I think I’ve had too much downtime since Omega.’_

“Commander, touchdown in thirty seconds.” Steve echoed in their ears as the shuttle suddenly banked right, the main hatch opening with a hiss showing everyone the rocky and mountainous terrain they would face.

Garrus hopped just as the shuttle paused to unload the team, landing with a heavy thump on the ground, sniper rifle out and scanning while Shepard and Jack followed after him.

“Steve we’ll radio when we finish. Should only be a few hours work.”

“Roger that commander, Cortez out.”

oOo

They’d been hiking for roughly twenty minutes before they found their first patrol. Shepard motioned for the team to pull back along the path in order to let the patrol pass them by. The two Blue Suns troopers were clearly relaxed, talking loudly, as they walked a well beaten path on their route. Garrus shook his head at the sloppiness of it before he caught the hand-signal from Shepard to quietly eliminate them. He collapsed his rifle and snapped it to the attachment on his armor before maneuvering to get behind the two unaware mercenaries.

He was thankful the two idiots hadn’t bothered to wear their helmets. Sneaking up behind them he quickly threw his arm around the neck of what he assumed was the senior Suns merc. With a violent jerk and twist he could feel the vertebrae of the trooper snap and crunch. With a last shake he threw the body off the path where it landed with a dull thud.

The second mercenary barely had time to realize what had happened before an armored fist crashed into his face, turning it to a bloody pulp. Garrus grabbed the merc by the shoulder, quickly spinning him around so that his newly deployed omni-blade had a clear path through the soft-spot in the side of the trooper’s armor to the heart. With a burbling hiss the wide-eyed human quickly passed from the realm of the living.

Flicking his omni-blade once to clear the blood, Garrus retracted it before pulling his rifle out and quickly scanning his surroundings. The entire encounter had taken less than fifteen seconds, but it never hurt to be cautious. 

“Patrol is down Red, no noise. We should be clear to move on.”

“Copy Garrus, pushing to you.”

Moments later Shepard and Jack joined him, the former giving him a quick nod as she continued down the path. Jack however stopped to survey his handi-work and give him an appraising look.

“Damn Garrus, figured Shepard was teaching you sparring, not the other way around.”

He only gave her a smile that could at best be described as toothy, before nodding at her and motioning for her to follow Shepard.

Jack leaned into his personal space, eyes narrowed and a smirk on her face. “We might have to put your hand-to-hand skills to use sometime if you keep this up. That was kinda hot.”

With that parting line Garrus watched Jack quickly jog after Shepard, leaving him wondering what exactly he’d just gotten himself into.

oOo

Jack was able to show off her skills just a bit later when they encountered another Sons patrol while turning the corner of a narrow path. Jack reacted quickly, warping the two after Shepard had them in a stasis lock. They died in twisted heaps of armor and blood before they’d had a chance to radio their headquarters.

Shepard had nodded at her and they continued onward, Jack wondering how many more of the idiot mercs they were going to encounter. She was itching for a proper gunfight and not the sneaking around they were currently doing.

“Okay, EDI’s reporting that we shouldn’t see any more patrols in this area. The base is about five hundred yards ahead of us. Garrus, there should be a good position up that cliff for you to hit them from while Jack and I storm the front door.”

“The front door?” Garrus just shook his head, “Copy Red, I’ll make sure no one causes issues for you. Or you Jack, even though you like to cause issues for the rest of us.”

“Just trying to pull that stick out of the ass of all you military types. Someone’s gotta have fun on that boat.”

Shepard snorted at Jack’s commentary, “Alright you two, time to focus up. Jack, alternate throws with me, keep any heavies in the air. Garrus just keep shooting once we kick the hornet’s nest.”

Jack nodded and readied her rifle, the Avenger uncomfortable in her hands, but she took solace in the training Garrus had given her. She watched Shepard switch to her own Avenger while Garrus checked his Mantis and Phaeston, a rifle of clear Turian design as it fit his tri-digit hands perfectly.

_'Wonder if he holds his women like he holds that rifle.’_

Jack wanted to rip out her subconscious at that moment and beat it to death. Instead, she checked her Carnifex and the Katana she had brought with. The heft of the shotgun helped center her thoughts on putting holes in the stupid merc assholes that had been bothering this system. She double checked her Avenger, ensuring the thermal clip was fresh before nodding her readiness at Shepard.

Garrus quickly scaled a small cliff, turians were uniquely suited to the task with their flexible toes and strong digits. Shortly his ready call came over their comms and Shepard motioned for Jack to follow. As they approached the entrance to the base Jack counted roughly ten troopers in various positions. Several in elevated towers watching the perimeter.

“Well time to see how good the big guy is with that rifle of his. We’re gonna need someone to kill those tower guards so we can get close enough for biotics.”

Shepard laughed, a dark sound, “Garrus will have no problem with these idiots. Their armor makes them perfect targets, they stand out too much against the brown backdrop.”

Jack smiled while Shepard relayed the new plan to Garrus and asked how fast he could take out the towers. The response was cocky and self-assured but confident that he’d handle it while they started running in.

“Okay we go on the first shot. We’ll use that big bunch of boulders as cover and take out whoever decides to come at us. Once we hit the door, we wait for Garrus, then you can pull out your boom-stick and we’ll clear the rest of these idiots out and detonate the power core to kill the base.”

Jack grinned, nodding as she readied her Avenger.

_‘This’ll be fun.’_

oOo

Garrus lined up his first shot, another seven thermal clips lined up and ready to go. He had planned out his shots so that by the time the next guard in line realize what was happening, he’d already have them in his crosshairs.

“Okay Red, going loud.”

The double click acknowledgement came over the radio and he exhaled slowly before squeezing the trigger on his Mantis, the sights never wavering from his target.

With a ‘crack’ the Blue Sun trooper dropped, his helmet flying off behind him as his head was turned into red mist. Garrus flicked a mandible, “Scratch one.” The smoking thermal clip was ejected and a fresh one inserted immediately after confirming the kill.

He swiveled quickly, lining up the second shot and repeated his breathing, trigger press and mantra. A second trooper had his soul ripped from the galaxy and the death of the first tower guard finally registered with the rest of the mercs. He chanced a look at Shepard and Jack, biotic coronas flaring, the two flying towards a large outcropping of boulders where they proceeded to open fire on the confused and alarmed troops.

He smiled at the destruction they would create and shifted his attention back to the tower guards. The third had decided that blind firing over the top of his cover was the best play he had; the undirected fire aimed at where he thought Garrus was firing from.

Garrus was happy to show the merc just why that was a bad idea. He quickly swapped his ammunition source to the tungsten carbide rounds that Shepard had bought him through Spectre Requisitions and estimated where the blind-firing mercenary’s head would be.

Inhale. Exhale. Steady squeeze.

The rifle recoiled smoothly into his shoulder and he watched a neat little hole get punched in the metal plate the trooper was using as cover. He watched as the rifle dropped off the edge of the tower and the tell-tale spray of red that meant he had a new kill to add to his count.

The last trooper had begun firing on Jack and Shepard as they advanced past the entrance, biotics flaring and bodies being tossed around like so much trash. He quickly shifted his sights to gun down the last trooper before waiting for any opportune skeet shooting Shepard or Jack may give him.

His opportunity was presented on a silver platter as a trooper was tossed high in the air and Jack came over his comms.

“Last one’s for you Garrus!”

The shot rang out before she had finished, and he smiled at the maniacal laugh that followed.

“Nice shooting Blue, get down here and we’ll finish these fuckers off permanently.”

oOo

Jack was grinning at Shepard who gave her a wide grin in return. They had quickly overpowered the meager garrison outside the front entrance, most of them never having a chance to really do much other than get thrown around like ragdolls. Jack had thrown a singularity while Shepard followed it up with a shockwave which had the desired effect of either outright killing or disabling the majority of the guards.

The last few that had managed to avoid the carnage were quickly dispatched by biotics or assault rifle rounds and Jack had gleefully launched the lone guard left up for Garrus to shoot out of the sky.

Garrus joined them, only shaking his head when he saw the destruction of overturned crates, splattered bodies and ruined equipment.

“Well looks like you two really didn’t need much help after all. Let’s say we go finish this place.”

Jack smacked him on the shoulder, “Damn straight! You might be all badass with that rifle of yours but me and Shep here can handle ourselves just fine.”

She watched Shepard just smile and shake her head before she turned back to Garrus, who was just nodded his head towards the front entrance and flicked his mandibles at her when she huffed.

With a quick weapon swap for her Katana, Jack paused on the left side of the door with Shepard on the right and Garrus behind her.

“Alright, I’ll cover ahead. Jack you cover the right as we enter and Garrus cover the left, if you see anyone, drop’em.”

Shepard punched the holo-lock and the door hissed open. Jack watched her dart in, shots ringing out alongside surprised yells and the woosh of biotics. She moved in after, the hallway in front of her long and absent any obvious threats while she felt Garrus move behind her, rifle cracking loudly in the enclosed space.

She spun, moving to help Shepard who was engaging four enemies that she could see. A quick biotic pull had one of them flying into her shotgun and he was dispatched with a quick pull of the trigger. Shepard dispatched another with her rifle, the rounds cutting through his meager shields and taking chunks out of the cheap armor. A concussive boom to her left had her flaring her biotics before she realized Garrus had let off a shot that took the head off of the third merc further down the hall.

Furious at her startle reflex, Jack felt for her biotics and unleashed them on the last mercenary standing, charging at him in a biotic flash and slamming him into a wall. The resounding crack sent pieces of armor flying and left a red smear where his body had impacted and then slid down to the floor.

She felt the adrenaline rush recede and gulped for air, shaking herself as a shiver ran down her spine. Shepard brushed by her with a quiet “nice” while Garrus paused for a moment, watching as she collected herself.

“Warn a girl the next time you wanna fire a big damn gun that close will ya?”

She would forever catalog the expression Garrus had as a smirk as he spoke, “Well I had to make sure I got a few more kills to make up for the ones I didn’t get outside. Can’t have you beating me in that.”

Jack narrowed her eyes at him, “Oh it’s so on Garrus.”

She spun on her heel and ran after Shepard who just gave them both an exasperated look, “Can you two please focus. You can bicker later, right now lets just finish these assholes off.”

Jack held up a glowing fist, “Yes Ma’am.”

oOo

The next hour had found the trio racing through the base blowing away any opposition they found. Most of the troopers hadn’t posed much of a threat until they got to the storage bay and found several YMIR mechs and a variety of higher tier troops. Jack found that the longer range and harder punch of her assault rifle at distance was much more useful than her shotgun would have been.

_‘Looks like Shep was right. Thank fuck she told me to get a lesson from Garrus or this fight would have sucked.’_

The fight was long and brutal with Jack and Shepard finally combining a singularity and a shockwave to carve out a large portion of the enemy combatants and destroying a large chunk of the room in the process. Garrus had also racked up his kill count and at one point resorted to his Phaeston after nearly melting the barrel on his Mantis. The fight had managed to bring out the reckless side in everyone as Shepard stayed out of cover longer and longer to toss warps into the Suns while Jack charged through and slammed enemies into the walls.

Things finally came to a head as he watched Jack jump on the back of one of the YMIR mechs, glowing fists coming down onto its head sending a biotic discharge through the mech. She looked up at him, a manic grin visible as she jumped down and ran towards where he was settled behind a makeshift barricade. Garrus quickly grabbed her as she slid in next to him and yelled for Shepard to duck. He tucked Jack under his body, crouching as best he could to stay below the barricade he was huddled behind.

“What the fuck Gar…”

The explosion took the rest of her words as the second Mech was caught in the blast and self-destructed as well. He could feel the concussive blast knock the wind out of his lungs and the heat from the explosion wash over him.

The moment seemed to last for eternity, Jack curled under his bulk, the scent of ozone and rage pungent on the air. It was abruptly ended when Jack pushed up and away from him, staring over the barricade at the destruction she’d wrought.

“Holy fucking shit! I didn’t think that was gonna happen.”

He watched her look over the smoking ruins of the battlefield, corpses and glowing metal littering the area. The mechs had taken out the last of the Suns reinforcements when they detonated, body parts scattered all over the bay. She turned her gaze to the scorch marks that washed over the barricade they’d been behind, the intensity of the heat having warped and melted some of the metal.  
  
“You knew. That’s why you grabbed me.”

Garrus turned to look at her, “I had a feeling that the second wasn’t too far behind exploding, Shepard and I had put several holes in it already.”

Jack looked between him and the two craters the mechs had left in their explosive wake, “Well fuck me sideways. Thanks, Garrus, pretty sure I’d have been stuck in the med-bay for a while if you hadn’t done that.”

“Well buy me a beer next time we have shore leave and we can call it even. And by the way, I’m currently leading the kill count, may want to try and catch up or you’ll be owing me more than just a beer.”

He watched as Jack cocked an eyebrow at him before smiling, “Don’t worry Garrus,” she leaned forward to place a hand on the front of his armor, “I know what gets you turians running hot.”

With that she strolled off and Garrus had to force himself to keep his eyes off of her waist as she purposefully swayed her hips. Shepard saved him from any further embarrassment when she called over for him to join her and Jack and finish the mission.

oOo

Back on the Normandy Garrus was with Jack and Shepard in the lounge after they had stored their gear and ran through a quick mission debrief. They had been joined by Kelly, Gabby and Ken who were insatiable gossips and lived vicariously through the ground crews.

Jack recounted their adventures with much gusto and some inventive storytelling. Grunt had even seemed impressed for a moment when she told of how he took down the Suns patrol before she explained how she had warped the other two. The krogan had smiled wide and smacked a fist into his palm and congratulated Jack on a job well done.

Slowly the night wound down, various crew came and left and finally Shepard said her goodnights, leaving Garrus and Jack alone in the lounge. Or at least as alone as one could be with a master thief milling about, through Garrus couldn’t hear or smell her nearby.

Jack went behind the bar and grabbed another dextro-beer for him and popped another bottle for herself.

“Since I’m not sure when we’ll get shore leave this’ll have to do for now.” She looked away from him, a tinge of red crawling up her face, “Thanks for the save today, and teaching me to use a rifle. Definitely came in handy today.”

“Not a problem Jack. If you ever want another lesson let me know, be happy to show you a thing or two.”

He watched her whirl her head around at the tone he’d used. A purposefully deeper register than his normal conversational one, just to see how she’d react. He sipped at his beer, doing his best to keep from smirking.

Jack stared at him for a moment before she narrowed her eyes and simply turned back to her drink. They sat in silence for the rest of the time, Garrus content to let Jack simmer in whatever thoughts she was absorbed in.

He turned as she stood and stretched, arms reaching toward the ceiling, his eyes crawling over her exposed form and landing on the pulse point of her neck. She arched her back for a moment, several muted ‘pops’ sounding before she dropped her arms and turned to him.

“Well I’m gonna go rack out for the night. Thanks again Garrus.” With that she stepped behind him, and he felt her lean in close, breath brushing over his aural canal and her blunt nails scrapping over the back of his neck, sending a shudder down his spine.

“If you ever want to spar sometime, I’m sure I’d be able to show you a thing or two.”

With that parting shot she strutted out of the lounge and towards the elevator leaving Garrus perplexed and confused.

_‘Spirits be damned that woman is crazy. She clearly doesn’t know how to lose at anything.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, hope everyone is enjoying this odd little fic. Garrus and Jack are a lot of fun to write together, and hopefully everyone enjoys their banter. Even if Jack is a foul-mouthed miscreant.


	3. Uncovering the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack once again needs to ask Garrus for help, but it requires giving up more of herself than she may be ready to.

Jack watched Garrus heave in another breath, his form slightly hunched, left arm tight to his side from the hit she’d landed earlier. He had taken her up on the sparring offer several days later, and while unsure of what exactly it would entail, she hadn’t been disappointed. Garrus had proven to be an exceptional opponent and their fight had gone much longer than either of them anticipated.

The match had meant to be private, but once Kasumi had mentioned Jack’s challenge to Joker the entire ship had started taking bets. Shepard had been less than pleased but acquiesced to the crew’s demands to see the two fight each other. So, what had been meant as a less than innocent challenge turned into a fight neither one of them would forget. The crew had managed to find popcorn and dragged-out seating around the mats to watch Jack and Garrus fight.

Initially they had felt each other out, quick jabs and kicks, testing reach and flexibility. Jack had quickly discovered that while she was a street brawler and knew her way around a fight, Garrus was on another level. Turians, at least those who were military trained, were excellent fighters. But she recognized that this was something else, either an innate instinct for violence or an extra level of training he’d gained along the way. She felt a low coil of desire slither into her belly at the idea that Garrus may not be the shy and naïve type she had initially pegged him as.

_‘Back in the fight Jack, you can figure out if you’re gonna fuck him later. But not if you fucking lose!’_

She was nursing what felt like a cracked rib and numerous bruises since their activities had turned from simple sparring to something else. Things had escalated fast, and both her and Garrus had gotten solid hits in on the other. It had gone from testing each other to a more aggressive fight. She stood from her kneeling position, wiping blood from a cut on her lip when he’d gotten her with a surprise right hook. She grinned at him, knowing she looked feral while the crew around them cheered on. She watched Shepard out of the corner of her eye, critically eyeing the both of them, a silent referee to ensure that neither of them did any permanent damage.

She watched as Garrus barred his teeth at her, a feral imitation of her own grin before he rushed her. She dodged backwards and attempted to avoid the incoming fists, blocking several of his blows before a fast sweep of his long leg sent her to the ground. She felt the breath get knocked out of her and her ribs shift uncomfortably. He was on top of her in an instant, arm across her throat while he growled low in his chest. The cheering in the room intensified to a roar, Grunt chief among them.

_‘Oh, you’re not winning that easily you over-grown chicken.’_

He was warm on top of her, his head close to hers, blue eyes shining in the low light of the hangar bay and his sub-vocals radiating through her. She resisted the urge to arch up into him, maybe throw him off balance with what she knew would be an intimate move. Though, much as she wanted him to stay on top of her for some other activities, Jack was never one to lose a fight.

She channeled some of her biotics into her right arm before she swung it around to elbow him in the side, using the momentum to roll on top of him and straddled his waist. She grinned victoriously, swinging with a left hook in a blow that she knew would put him down for the count. As she was about to connect, Garrus’ arm shot up to grab her by the throat, his large tri-digit hand wrapping all the way around her neck and then some. She felt her hand connect to the side of his head at least one of her fingers breaking in the act. The sudden choke had thrown her off, and a brief memory of Purgatory surfaced before she buried it. His hand around her throat however didn’t loosen at her hit and she watched as he dazedly stared up at her. The blow had only knocked most of the sense out of him instead of unconscious as she’d hoped.

_‘Holy fuck he’s one tough bastard.’_

She felt herself be thrown to the side, landing heavily on her ribs, and winced as they ground together. She was able to look over in time to see Garrus make it to a knee, blood dripping from his face and mouth where she’d hit him. He was staring at her, one arm supported by his knee, the other clenched to his side, something unknowable in his eyes as he watched her struggle to rise from the mat.

“Okay, that’s it. I’m not letting you two kill each other. Call it a draw, the both of you are half dead as it is, and I need you for ground ops still.”

A groan went through the crew at Shepard’s announcement, but Jack knew Shepard was right. If they went any further with the match it would result in one of them probably killing the other. Unintentionally or otherwise. She hurt in places that hadn’t hurt for years, and she knew that she’d be a nice black and blue color by morning, even with the medi-gel.

The shuttle bay quickly cleared out and Jack slumped to the floor, bruised, exhausted and hungry. She turned to watch Garrus carefully rise to his feet, arm stiff against his side as he walked over to her. He reached out a hand to her, a quick flick of the fingers motioning for her to get up. Grudgingly she placed her hand in his own and levered herself upwards with his help, groaning as joints pulled and bones shifted. She looked up at his face, startlingly blue eyes staring back at her, a flick of his good mandible the only indication of an emotion she couldn’t read. She wobbled on her feet, head pounding after the exertion of the match and she watched his arm come out to steady her, settling on her shoulder.

“Alright you two, hit the Medbay and get the all clear from Chakwas. We’ve got at least a week till I need you for the next op so rest and recover.” Shepard paused eying the both of them with a critical stare, “Jack, get some food, you look like you’re about to fall over. Garrus make sure she eats.”

Jack just glared at her, “I don’t need a fucking babysitter Shepard. I’ve survived worse than some cocky turian beating me up.”

“Since when am I her caretaker Red?”

Jack smirked and motioned with her thumb towards Garrus, “Also that.”

Shepard simply stared at them before walking to the lift, “You’ll do as I say Jack or I won’t let you use the Striker on the next mission. And Garrus don’t make me take back that HMWSR I got you.”

Jack listened to Garrus chuckle at the threat, his hand warm on her shoulder as he applied pressure to get her moving. She feigned a disappointed tone towards the commander, “That’s fucking cold Shep. Can’t believe you’d do me like that, you promised I could run it on the next ground mission.”

Garrus moved her towards the elevator while Shepard held the door. The woman just shook her head, red mane of hair shimmering in the light before motioning for them to hurry up. “Just get something to eat you two, and you’re both on light duty for the next few days regardless of what Chakwas says. Garrus that goes double for you.”

One very sarcastic “Aye Commander” and a disgruntled “Fine Red” later, Jack exited the lift with Garrus and headed towards the medical bay.

“So, you’re totally going to tell me what training you got that you fight like that. I’ve fought plenty of turians before, but you’re the only one who’s challenged me that much.” Jack turned to look up at what she was definitely sure was a smug grin on Garrus.

He just shook his head at her, “Medbay first, then some food and then I need a drink.”

Jack snorted, “What, did I wear you out Garrus? Thought you turians were all about being better than us puny humans.”

She only laughed as Garrus lightly shoved her before he palmed the Medbay door, revealing a stern looking Chakwas. She wondered briefly when she’d gotten comfortable around him before she registered the glare the Chakwas leveled at her.

“Hey Scars, think we can still run away?”

Jack watched as the doctor began tapping her foot before telling EDI to immediately inform Shepard if either Jack or Garrus left the Medbay before she released them. Jack felt the doors close behind her with an ominous hiss as she prepared for the dressing down the doctor seemed ready to give.

oOo

Garrus sat down heavily at the table in the mess hall, groaning as he did so. His side ached from where Jack had landed a particularly nasty kick and the rest of his joints and limbs felt stiff and aching. He hadn’t thought the gangly Jack would be much of a brawler, instead relying on her biotics, but she’d come close to beating him several times. Chakwas had berated the both of them for a solid ten minutes before treating them for their injuries. The medi-gel had helped, along with the minor bone reconstruction each of them had needed, but she’d not given either of them painkillers as punishment.

He picked slowly at his tray of food, his mandible and face still smarting from where Jack had landed a blow and the medi-gel hadn’t quite numbed it. He glanced up as Jack settled in heavily across from him, her own tray piled high with several sandwiches and various leftovers from dinner. 

He watched as she ravenously tucked in, the food disappearing at an alarming rate. He flicked a mandible at the glance she spared him, clearly unconcerned with whatever he thought of her manners. Reaching down he pulled one of the beers Kasumi had given him when he passed by her quarters and pushed it over towards Jack. He watched as she stared at it before slowly turning her gaze to his, one eyebrow raised in question.

“Kasumi gave it to me; said we’d earned it for the entertainment. And now that I think about it, probably the royalties she’s getting from putting on the ‘net.” He pulled the bottle she’d given him up and clinked it to the next of the one he’d given to Jack. “You surprised me you know. I didn’t think you had that kind of fight in you.”

He raised his hand to ward off the indignant reply he could see coming, “You’re an excellent fighter Jack. Great with your biotics and a shotgun. I just hadn’t expected you to also be a solid hand-to-hand brawler.”

Seemingly placated she returned to her food, “Yea well…growing up how I did, you learned to fight any way you could. Biotics, fists, feet, whatever was at hand.”

He watched her trail off in memories, clearly some buried trauma that she didn’t want to discuss. Shaking her head, she clearly threw off whatever seemed to drive her into melancholy and took a deep swig of her alcohol.

“So. Where’d you learn to fight like that? I haven’t seen a turian fight quite like you. They’re usually stiffer in their attacks, rely on talons and brute force. You’ve clearly had some extra training thrown in there.”

Garrus smirked at the unintended compliment, “Blackwatch picked me up during my time in service. Spent two years with them as an engineer in preparation for the Spectre program. I’d already aced their weapons qualifications, so I went to an advanced school for sniper training. Part of that course involved advanced hand-to-hand techniques from Asari huntresses and a Krogan battlemaster that got his kicks from beating the Spirits out of new recruits, and I assume a healthy number of credits.”

Jack was staring at him with something akin to interest, eyes roaming over him as he spoke. “You sound like you’ve been through some shit. Sparring is something you guys do a lot of right, blowing off steam and all that?”

There was something in Jack’s voice that Garrus couldn’t quite place, but he decided to see where the conversation would go, “Turian crews like to spare to release stress and tension before high-risk missions, and for training purposes. Keeps everyone sharp and ready to go and it can settle quarrels amongst the crew.”  
  
He paused to look at her more closely, watching her face for any tells or twitches, “I was actually one of the top ranked hand-to-hand specialists on the ship I served on. Before one of our missions against Batarian pirates this recon scout and I were at each other’s throats. Mostly nerves, but she suggested we settle it in the ring.”

Jack had both of her eyebrows raised at that information, “Let me guess, you guys came out looking worse than we do now.”

He watched her wince as she moved, clearly something still aggravating her from their match. “No, we’re supervised to make sure we don’t much past where you and I are now in terms of injuries. Anyways she and I went nine full rounds. Brutal fighting, she was a damned good fight if I’m being honest. We fought to a draw, lot of unhappy bettors in the crowd I’m sure. Kind of like tonight actually.”

Jack laughed and immediately grabbed around her middle, “Oh, don’t make me laugh Garrus. The medi-gel is helping, but cracked ribs are still a bitch.”

She took another pull from bottle and Garrus followed suit, “You should get some rest Jack; you look worse than you usually do.”

Jack smirked, “You don’t exactly look much better Scars. We still have to settle our match though, hopefully without the audience next time.”

Garrus simply flicked a mandible in a smile at her, “Are you suggesting a…tie-breaker? The idea has merit.” The last bit said with a small purr in his vocals.

_‘Spirits, what am I doing. I’m not even certain she’s interested. Sure, she’s put out all the right signals for a turian. She’s human though, and certainly not like any others I’ve met.’_

He watched as Jack’s eyes flicked up to his in a startled fashion, a flash of emotion going through them before everything was locked behind a mask.

“Looking to get your ass kicked that badly huh? Well name the time and place. As for right now I gotta get some sleep, still a lot of files to dig through. Cerberus was nothing if not devoted to their paperwork.”

She abruptly stood and after grabbing the last sandwich, placed her dining stuffs in the washing machine before presumably stomping off to her hole in engineering.

Garrus stared after her, unsure of what had just happened, but realizing there was some larger issue at play for Jack to have shutdown that quickly. She had been playful and antagonistic in turns in the game they seemingly had going, but this was different.

He finished his beer before setting his own dining things in the washer and setting the cycle for Gardner. Stretching he returned to the main battery and his bunk where the thoughts of the day wouldn’t leave him till the early hours of the morning.

oOo

Jack sat on her cot, the last several days spent avoiding Garrus and the crew, trawling through the files Shepard had given her. There were terabytes of data to sift through, and even with Tali’s assistance in building a rudimentary search program, she wasn’t able to get through all of it quickly enough.

“Ah fuck.”

Her best option was to talk to Garrus. The turian had been suggested by EDI, Shepard and Tali for his programming experience. When pressed by Jack, EDI had mentioned that several of her system blocks prevented her from accessing the files Jack had interest in, and she was unable to lend further assistance. The amount of cursing had startled everyone in engineering and brought Tali down to try and assist.

Jack had found early on that she actually liked the quiet quarian girl. She had spent time with Kasumi and Tali in the bar talking about the quarian’s previous adventures with Shepard and Garrus as well as gossiping over the usual topics. Chief among them was Garrus and Shepard’s relationship, and the tidbit that Garrus had given her about the ongoing bet. She’d also fielded all of Tali’s questions about her tattoos while she in turn told Jack about quarian culture and their enviro-suits.

Jack hadn’t expected to make friends on the ship, but the enigmatic thief and industrious quarian had done their best to drag her out of her shell. The two engineers, Ken and Gabby had done their best to break through her toughened exterior and had convinced her to play in their usual poker nights with the crew once or twice. Kasumi’s promise of alcohol had usually helped.

Grunt had initially thought her a ‘squishy human’ before she tossed him across the hangar bay during a quick sparring session. He’d quickly become a permanent fixture on missions along with Garrus and herself when Shepard really wanted to destroy something. The krogan had grown on her, as he did with everyone else, a combination of brute strength and new-to-the-world enthusiasm. She stayed away from Zaeed after their initial encounter, the old merc reminding her of too many people she’d rather forget. Similarly, she avoided the rest of the Cerberus crew, who gave her a wide berth on the ship regardless.

Groaning she grabbed the datapads she was working on and made her way to the Main Battery and Garrus’ usual haunt. Stepping off the lift she snuck a quick look around to ensure Miranda wasn’t nearby and made her way to the one person she’d hoped to avoid for a time longer to sort out her conflicted feelings.

She stopped in front of the Battery’s doors irritated, that as before, she couldn’t quite muster the courage to go straight in. This time for somewhat different reasons. She knew she could trust Garrus. He’d been there to kill the Blue Suns mercs on the last mission they’d ran together as well as when he helped Shepard rescue her from her prison. But he generated complicated feelings anytime she thought about him.

_‘Man up Jack! If you want to fuck him then fuck him! He’s a turian, he won’t take it as anything other than blowing off steam!’_

Her problem was that she found that she genuinely liked Garrus. Liked the way he wasn’t afraid to call her out on her shit or give as good as he got from her. Liked the way he treated her as a person.

Mumbling under her breath she palmed the door release and waited for Garrus to notice her. She took in his form, the seven-foot alien that made her nerves sing when he was close. Her heart had beat rapidly, and blood rushed hotly when he’d pinned her on the mats.

‘ _It’s just physical Jack. You used to like them once. Liked their stamina and hands-off approach after sex. Just because you know his name doesn’t mean anything.’_

She knew he was considered handsome, even with the scars on his face from the incident on Omega. He was confident too; with the way he’d handled her at the range on their first real meeting. There was also their sparring match in which he’d done his best to avoid any particularly sensitive areas. It spoke of intimate familiarity either from C-SEC or more personal liaisons. She realized his usual hesitation with her before was her attitude and prickly demeanor. He hadn’t hesitated to get physical with her during their match and at the moment she wasn’t sure if she wanted to run away or pull him closer.

She wanted the easy comfort and camaraderie he had with Shepard and Tali, the playful banter he shared with Thane and Grunt when comparing kills or battlefield exploits. Desired the close and intimate discussions she’d seen him have with Samara about Omega before they’d noticed her and changed topics. Wanted to hit Chambers in the face anytime she looked at him with those bright and interested eyes as she blatantly stared at him like a meal to be devoured.

_‘Get a fucking grip Jack! He’s not yours, he's probably not even interested in you. Probably just sees you as a quick fuck.’_

Shaking the thoughts from her mind she started as she noticed Garrus once again starring at her, a pensive look on his face.

“Jack?”

She wanted to run. His tone was parts soft and warm but questioning. He’d clearly said her name more than once. She didn’t need this. Didn’t need the comfort or the pity or the concern.

“Look. I need your help with something. Shepard and Tali said you’re the one to talk to about computer stuff and I’m fucking stuck.”

She looked anywhere but his face, not wanting to see his expression when she’d asked for his help. This wasn’t like when Shepard had ordered her to get training, now it was personal. Now it was her deepest, darkest secrets. Now it was her childhood. And her demons.

oOo

Garrus had been trying to get Jack’s attention for a moment or two before she seemingly came back to herself. He knew that gaze, the self-introspection into your darkest parts. Shepard had been the one to drag him kicking and screaming from the dark after Omega, pulled him back to the light.

“Okay, no problem. What do you need?”

She turned towards the crate sitting along the wall, several datapads in hand, taking a seat on it. “I need help sorting through the documentation Cerberus has in their files. There’s a shit ton of paperwork and while it’s organized, there’s no pattern to it. Pretty sure the fucking Cheerleader ordered it by reverse alphabetical date or some shit just to fuck with me. EDI can’t help and Tali tried, but she suggested you. So here I am.”

Garrus took a moment to watch the sullen female in front of him. She had been avoiding him the last few days. Not that he’d made it out of the Main Battery that much since he was nearly done configuring the Thanix cannon’s power draw and had to start testing with Engineering and Tali. But usually, he’d see her in the lounge for a drink or the mess hall for dinner. Even Shepard had commented on her absence and she was busier than most.

“You need help with a search program I take it?”

Jack nodded, a short quick jerk of her head that told him this wasn’t something she was happy about asking for.

He held out his hand for the datapads, “Okay, let me see what Tali set you up with so far. And I’ll need any details you’re looking for or specific keywords. The more detail the better.”

He watched her hesitate, staring at the datapads in her hands like they were the most important thing she owned. Slowly she extended her arm to him, eyes dark with emotion as she watched him gently take them from her.

He let out a surprised chirp at the amount of data contained on them. The program Tali had setup, while a good start, was rudimentary for this level of chaos and he understood why he’d been suggested. As a detective at C-SEC sorting through documentation like this had been his specialty on a few cases. Tali was a damn good engineer, but she her particular talents lay in the physical systems and not in datamining to the extent required here.

“Jack, these are huge files. There’re a couple terabytes in here of Cerberus documentation including stuff from all the way before the Relay incident. Tons of garbage too. I’m going need something to go off of. Anything you’re looking for, dates, names, a place, whatever.”

He looked up at her and his breath caught in his throat. He’d never seen her as vulnerable or as raw as she was at the moment. She’d drawn her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, curling in on herself in a defensive position.

“Jack?”

She started at the soft noise he made as he knelt down to her eye level, brown eyes boring into blue.

“Jack, whatever it is, I promise it’ll stay between you and I.”

She seemingly steeled herself at the comment and schooled her face once again to the hardened criminal persona she put on around the crew. Garrus could nearly taste her unease and fear, as well as her anger, hot and tangy on his tongue. The sharp smell of ozone nearly burned off of her and he once again wanted to know what she tasted like, feel her on his skin as she pressed herself against him like she had on during their sparring session.

_‘Not the time Garrus. She’s asking for your help, not your interest.’_

“You’re damned fucking right this stays between us. I swear, if you mention any of this shit to anyone, I will personally rip those mandibles off your face and beat you to death with them.”

He just raised his brow plates. He’d clearly touched a nerve and he wasn’t entirely certain how to proceed. With a turian female his sub-vocals would radiate calm and understanding. With Jack? He wasn’t entirely certain how to respond to that.

“Look Jack, you asked me for help. I’m willing to help you, but I can’t do it with nothing to work off of. You’re clearly after something specific, let me help you find it. Shepard will help however she can, and that goes the same for me.”

She looked at him, a multitude of emotions flitting through her expression before he could see a decision being made. She stilled, her hands coming to settle on her knees and the previous nervous ticks coming to a standstill.

“I remember being taken. Would have been 2165 or thereabouts. I’m looking for a Cerberus facility, it was hot, tropical maybe. There’s something vague I remember about the plant life there, something the guards talked about. Would have been a lot of kids there as well. Some kind of biotic experimentation. Far as I know they were working on biotics, making them better, testing mine, make me a better killer.”

Garrus couldn’t help the low growl that started in his chest at her words. It reminded him too much of Doctor Saleon and all the other criminals that had gotten away during his time at C-SEC. He felt physically ill at the implications Jack was mentioning. An abduction, conditioning, teaching a child to kill, brutality and worse.

“Okay. This is going take a while to sort through. But I promise you we’ll find what you’re looking for. If you don’t mind, I could use you sticking around for questions or narrowing down specifics.”

“Yea. I can do that.”

He nodded, “Feel free to grab a seat on the cot. It’s probably more comfortable than that crate, definitely warmer.”

He watched her nod before listlessly moving over to his cot and wrapping a blanket around herself, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. His heart raged for her, raged at the injustice she’d suffered, the inability to correct it. Raged at the spirit that had been shattered and beaten at the hands of those who would do her harm. A desire to see those who’d hurt her suffer for it. He made a promise to himself then that he would ensure she found what she was looking for and help her in any way she needed. In his mind’s eye Archangel stared back at him, the face of vengeance and retribution. Unlike his team, he wouldn’t let Jack down.

oOo

Jack stirred to wakefulness; immediately aware she wasn’t in her usual bed in the lower engineering compartment. For one it was colder, though the blanket she was under was warm and smelled of a familiar metallic scent. The large cushion she was leaning against also carried the same scent. She found herself comfortable and a let the tiny feeling of safety and normality wash over her before she remembered who the owner of the scent was, the slight haze of sleep lifting.

‘ _Garrus.’_

It was familiar and Jack resisted the urge to bury herself in it. Memories of last night flitted through her mind, the admittance of her past, his offer to help.

Sitting up she looked around the Battery, eyes focusing on Garrus standing at the console, digits clicking over the keys, clearly at work on something. She could hear Tali over the intercom, discussing something with him about information and algorithms that Jack only recognized because Tali had tried explaining it to her when they had talked about her data problem.

She stretched, garnering Garrus’ attention and she caught his eyes roaming over her as she did so. She returned it, glancing over his loose casual wear, remembering how he felt as he towered over her during their sparring match.

“You doing okay Jack?”

She nodded, “What time is it? Sorry for falling asleep on you, your bed is fucking comfortable.”

He laughed, something warm and deep that made her want to hear it again. 

“Well, for what it’s worth you looked like you could use it. And it’s early, sometime just before the morning cycle starts.”

He turned back to his work, “Alright, thanks Tali. I got it from here, just a lot of data to sort through.”

“Not a problem Garrus, glad you were able to help. See you at breakfast?”

She watched Garrus flick a mandible, “Yea Tali, see you then.”

He turned back to her, “Tali and I sorted out a program for you, had to pull a favor from friends back on the Citadel for the same programs C-SEC used to trawl financial documents. A bit of tweaking and your key-terms for searching and we should be able to find what you’re looking for.”

Jack felt her heart thump heavily. Her past was so close and yet she wanted nothing to do with that turbulent period in her life. Leaving it buried wasn’t an option, but confronting it was just as terrifying. Answers didn’t always bring peace.

“Thank you.”

_‘Really Jack? Just “thank you”. For fucks sake use your damned words.’_

Before she could continue her internal argument, Garrus interrupted her thoughts. “I wouldn’t thank me just yet. I’ll need you to drop by a few times over the next few days to refine the program. I had to run it on my terminal to have EDI devote some processing power to it, the only other option would be Miranda’s office and I doubt you want to hang out there.”

She watched Garrus chuckle at the glare she leveled at him and couldn’t help but crack a smirk in return.

“Well, I suppose there are worse ways to pass the time.” She paused, dredging up what sincerity she had that wouldn’t come off as sarcastic or fake.

“I mean it Garrus. Thank you. Not many people would help like this.”

She couldn’t look him in the eye, too afraid that she’d let him see past the walls she kept erected. Didn’t want to see the pity he would undoubtedly have for the ‘psychotic biotic’ and criminal.

She listened as the tapping on the terminal ceased and his steps neared her position on his bunk and her eyes locked on the two taloned feet that stopped in front of her. Heard the soft rustle of clothing and then felt a large three-digit hand settled on her shoulder, suede-like skin warm on hers, a familiar and comforting weight. His warm scent that reminded her of sun and metal enveloping her as it had when she was wrapped in his blanket.

She forced herself to raise her gaze from the floor and up to the vibrant blue eyes that held nothing but warmth and understanding and something darker. She could feel herself wanting to lean into the hand, lean into the support he offered, let go of everything that troubled her.

Instead, she nodded, words caught in her throat before standing and wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the sudden chill. She ignored the idea of climbing back into Garrus’ bed, pulling the turian with her, to feel him against her. To feel something real.

His voice came from behind her, “See you at breakfast Jack.”

It wasn’t a question or an order, merely a statement, but she smiled at the simplicity of it. She turned to look back at him, still standing at his cot, blue eyes boring into her brown before giving him a brief nod and walking out of the Battery. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the chapter count did increase, I realized I needed something in-between my main plot events to tie things together. The goal is to build a bit more of a relationship between them, and I hope that comes through in this chapter. I also wanted to build up each of their backstory a bit more, get into the specifics of what drives the two of them and I hope that's coming through in this chapter. 
> 
> As always comments are much appreciated, I would love to hear what people think about this odd pairing.


End file.
